Premier League Preview: Tottenham Hotspur-Wolves

Tottenham Hotspur

The proverbial underachievers, Tottenham have really found a great manager in Harry Redknapp. Redknapp has been hugely successful wherever he has gone and finally got his chance to manage at one of the biggest clubs in the country early last season. Taking Tottenham from the bottom of the table to 8th was an incredible achievement.

Tottenham however always want more, they believe they should be in the Champions League. Whilst many fans of other teams think that this is an unrealistic goal, it seems that Tottenham and their fans will not be happy until they achieve it. Having been in Europe a few times they feel ready to make the next step and as a result old Harry will have to conjour up some more magic this season.

Selling your top scorer is not always the best move for a club but not many Tottenham fans seem too bothered to have lost Darren Bent, the £14 recieved has helped fund a move for Harry’s old faithful Peter Crouch as well as a couple of young Sheffield United starlets Kyle Walker and Kyle Naughton for a combined £8 million.

Crouch will add an aerial threat but Spurs will have the same old problem of too many strikers, let’s hope that Jermaine Defoe, Roman Pavyluchenko and Robbie Keane do not mind sitting a few out. Without too many changes in the squad Spurs should be where they were last season.

Perhaps, Tottenham’s huge desire for success comes from other clubs like Everton and Aston Villa who have been unlikely contenders for Champions League places in the past couple of seasons. Perhaps, also their hunger is a result of fierce rivals Arsenal’s consistant top 4 finishes. Whatever it is Tottenham should not expect Champions League football and should be more than happy with a Europa Cup place which is a possiblilty.

Prediction 8th

West Ham

What a job Gianfranco Zola did last season. He took a dwindling club on the edge of disaster and turned them into a footballing wonder. Ok maybe that is a slight over statement but the little man from Italy has won over the Hammer’s fan’s hearts with their attractive football and good performances.

A 9th place finish was nothing short of brilliant after the sacking of Alan Curbishley, unease over resources and ownership had threatened to send the club down to the Championship. Zola stepped in and in only the way the little magician could he turned things around.

Davis Di Michele was signed and had an instant impact scoring twice on his debut, Zola even started to get the best out of serial underachiever Carlton Cole which has culminated in him being called up to the England squad.

Zola’s genius however can only go so far, with the only signing of the summer being Inter’s Luis Jiminez on loan, Hammer’s fans must be wondering if their team can progress this year. Jiminez is a class young act but cannot push the team forward on his own.

The loss of club captain Lucas Neill is huge and with no replacements coming in it is tough to see where West Ham will push on. If Cole reproduces last seasons form then the Hammers could repeat last seasons results.

Prediction  10th

Wigan Athletic

It all looked doom and gloom for the ‘Latics’ as they lost inspirational manager Steve Bruce. Bruce got them to an impressive 11th in the table and will forever be remembered for his time at the club. However, the up and coming young Roberto Martinez got the manager job and Wigan could be in for another decent season and most importantly they should stay well clear of relegation.

Many fans will be glad Martinez got the job as he did so well at Swansea but he is unproven at the level. Having never managed in the Premier League it is a gamble and one that does not always come off, as shown by the appauling performance of Paul Ince whilst managing Blackburn last season.

Martinez however has something about him, a certain sense of class and knowledge that fans love. The signings of Swansea goal machine Jason Scotland and Chelsea youth starlet Scott Sinclair could prove to be great aquistitions in the coming months.

The loss of Antonio Valencia and Henri Camara will be a test but Martinez has the tactical nouse to produce some surprisingly good results this season.

Prediction 11th

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolves stormed the Championship last year and after making a lot of signings and managing to keep all of their best players they will believe they can stay up. Kevin Doyle is a great signing for a club this size and is guaranteed to bag a few vital goals, combined with the great Championship talent that is Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Wolves could score plenty of goals.

With no significant losses Wolves will look to get stuck in this season and maintain their Premier League status. A team who do so well in the Championship usually have an edge in the survival picture and Wolves should score enough goals to just about hang on in the Premier League.

Prediction 17th

Norwich City: The laughing stock of the football league!

Bryan Gunn was sacked as manager of Norwich City football club today. Just one league game into the season, the Norwich board have decided to disgracefully axe the club legend.With huge debts, practically a new team of players and no manager it is not a great time to be a Norwich City fan.

Where on earth has it all gone wrong for Norwich City? Fifteen years ago ‘the canaries’ were flying high in Europe, smashing Bayern Munich along the way and still the only British club to have beaten Bayern in Munich.

Today Norwich are languishing in the third tier of English football, their first game of this season was a humiliating 7-1 defeat at home to of all clubs Colchester. With the summer transfer window drawing to a close and virtually no transfer funds, even a new manager will not be able to improve or transform his squad.

How can you appoint a manager like Gunn who had no previous experience and then give him the job personally after getting the club relegated? And furthermore how can you appoint a manager and then sack him after one league game at the start of the season? It is crazy.

But Norwich fans will not be surprised, the club has been a shambles for years. Nothing makes sense about the way the board approaches running the club, there have been some horrific manager choices recently including serial failure Glen Roeder and unexperienced former player Peter Grant, all with disasterous consequences ultimately ending in relegation last season.

So to the sacking of Gunn. Once he had been given the job despite fans uproar and huge disagreement, you would expect the board to give him a chance. The 7-1 loss on Saturday was a sham but the fact is it was the first game of the season, there are bound to be a few rusty players and it is tough for a manager to know his best eleven on the first day given the amount of changes there were in the squad. Also, Gunn turned it around on Tuesday night by changing a few players, with Norwich acheiving a very respectable 4-0 away win at Yeovil. Over at the other side of the country Yeovil is certainly not an easy place to win at. Given City’s dreadful cup record it was a fantastic result for the club. So the manager has lost his job on the back of a 4-0 win, how ironic it is then that he was given the job after a 4-0 win earlier in the year.

Hardly surprising though given how poorly the club is run. The owner is a TV chef who is better known for her drunken half time ‘let’s be ‘avin ya’ rants than her boardroom knowledge. Perhaps it really is time for Delia Smith to go before she causes anymore damage, surely it could not get any worse. Yes, Delia has put a lot of money into the club but this does not justify some dreadful decisions and playing in the third tier of English football. Aside from Leeds United, Norwich City are the biggest club in League One and should on this merit run away with it this season. Not many fans believe that is likely to happen.

The only possible salvation would be a big takeover and a decent investment of cash but as always a lot of talk about such things has merely been rubbish in recent months. Another way the club may restore some dignity is if they appoint a great manager to take the reigns and shake up the club, but who in their right mind will want this job now. Anyone who is worthy of a good manager job would not take it and that just leaves Norwich City with the scraps and unsuccessful managers to choose from.

Possible candidates to take over are current caretaker Ian Butterworth, who will be blighted by being part of the Gunn regime, Mark Robins, a former player who has had some success in managing at this level, and the man most City fans would love to have in charge, Aidy Bothroyd. Bothroyd a former academy boss has the skill and the nous to lead a promotion charge but even if he gets the job he will not be able to bring in many players and is pretty much stuck with the current untested City squad.

This is all very worrying for Norwich City and rather than harbouring promotion ambitions, most fans have already given up hope, mid-table may be the best city can get this season, the board needs to rectify this situation quickly or they will have a City riot on their hands.

Premier League Preview: Manchester United-Sunderland

Manchester United

A strange off season for the ‘red devils’ has seen the world’s most expensive player leave the club. The big talking point of the summer for most United fans has been the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, the footballing sensation leaving for an amazing £80 million. Losing Ronaldo can only be seen as a huge blow to the team, there were many times last season when Ronaldo single handedly won them games and looked the best player in the world. However, £80 million is a lot of money even to a massive club like Manchester United and given Alex Ferguson’s track record of signings the money will almost certainly be well spent. So there are definitely two sides to the argument on the sale of Ronaldo, some fans are gutted at losing perhaps the best player in the world, whilst others believe the money will help Fergie strengthen his squad to be better than it was even with Ronaldo.

The strange thing is Ferguson has had no intention of spending the money this summer. Earlier in July Ferguson announced he had made all the signings he wanted to and was happy with the squad he had. The only really notable signings being Antonio Valencia from Wigan for £16 million and the surprise signing of Michael Owen on a free transfer from Newcastle. Fans are unlikely to believe that either of these players can fill Ronaldo’s boots.

Michael Owen is a world class forward when fit, the problem is he is hardly ever fit. Ferguson has taken a gamble on him but should Owen get injured United’s squad begins to look a bit bare. With the loss of loanie Carlos Tevez, United’s forward line is weaker than it was. Berbatov has not justified his big money move yet and Rooney will need to score a lot more goals if United want to win the title for the 4th season running. Ronaldo’s goalscoring will be sorely missed and some players will have to step up and fulfill their potential to help United lift more trophies this season.

Always strong at the back, Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand will be hard to get past, there is no reason to expect any different.

The nucleus of the team has been kept but the holding core has been withdrawn, it is hard to see how this will not draw the other teams closer this year. This season may be one too many for United to win the title and without some more world class signings they may lose out.

Prediction 2nd

Portsmouth

What on earth has happened to this club? Last season talk was rife of massive foreign investment, rumours of an Arab takeover and even talk of Sven Goran Eriksson taking charge. Whilst this has failed to happen the club has hit a downward spiral, reporting massive debts and scrapping plans for stadium expansion, it is tough to see how the tide can turn.

The sale of Glen Johnson and Peter Crouch for a combined £26 million may seem acceptable but none of the funds have been invested in new players. With two star players gone it looks like this season will be a real struggle for Pompey. Fans are seething and with such a passionate following the club will be in for a rough ride should they not perform this season.

A shame perhaps because manager Paul Hart has done such a wonderful job since taking over, he has saved the club from almost certain relegation in the hands of Tony Adams. Portsmouth may just have enough in their ranks to survive this season but their future looks bleak and it probably will not be too long before they are relegated.

Prediction 16th

Stoke City

The heroes of last season return to fight again. Stoke were undoubtedly the overachievers of last year finishing a fantastic 12th having come up from the Championship the season before. Perhaps not the most beautiful football team to watch but they could not be criticized for their resilience and incredible home form. The Britannia Stadium was a fortress last year and if Stoke can repeat this then there is no chance of relegation.

Manager Tony Pulis was probably the manager of the season in the Premier League and although his tactics are not liked by many they get the results and at the end of the day that is all that matters.

Probably the least busy team in the transfer market this off-season, Stoke have only signed Sunderland’s Dean Whitehead for £3 million. The only sale being Seyi Olofinjana to Hull again for £3 million. This will not worry fans however as last years team has more than enough battling qualities in them to survive this league.

Stoke will look to capitalize from some poor sides down at the bottom this season, not just promoted teams but also the Hull’s and Portsmouth’s who really look set to struggle. Staying alive should be no problem for Stoke this year.

Prediction 13th

Sunderland

Sunderland fans should be buoyed by the signing of manager Steve Bruce. One of the best out their with mediocre teams on limited budgets Bruce could finally be the man to help Sunderland reach the heights their fans so desperately crave. With one of the best chairman in the game in Niall Quinn, there is no reason Sunderland cannot start to think about Europe in years to come.

Darren Bent is a great signing for Sunderland, a bit pricey at £16.5 million but he is a proven goalscorer anywhere he goes and guarantees you at least a few each season. Lorik Cana is again not cheap at £5.4 million but the former Marseille player could be a star of the future is he develops well.  Frazier Campbell has also been signed and fans will be hoping this former Manchester United youth starlet can fulfill his promise. Bruce does have the knack of picking out players of great potential, look at Antonio Valencia, Wilson Palacios and Amir Zaki all top class players who were found by Bruce.

Selling Michael Chopra, Dean Whitehead and Greg Halford will not set alarm bells ringing in the North East, Sunderland have done well to hang on to their main stars.

This is a big season fro Keiran Richardson, Manchester United’s academy product has always had the potential to be a quality player and certainly showed glimpses of that last season. If Bruce can get the best out of him then Sunderland will be a creative attacking force. Sunderland should also benefit from Bruce’s defensive knowledge making them a tough team to beat.

Relegation is not an issue that Sunderland will have to deal with but this is a building season and fans should be happy with a mid-table finish looking to push on next season.

Prediction 12th